Sermon: Weedy Seedy Christians Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 July 21, 2002
I. Introduction
A. A Story
1. A blonde was hard up for money, so she went walking around her neighborhood looking for odd jobs to do. She met a nice man who said he would give her work. All she had to do was paint his porch white and he’d give her twenty bucks. She agreed so he gave her a bucket of paint and left. He walked into his house, laughing. He told his wife what he had done. “Frank, our porch covers half of the house. You’re so mean.” His wife replied. Three hours later, the blond came into the house, gave the bucket of white paint back to the man and announced she was finished. The astonished man was so impressed he gave her a $100 bill and asked how in the world she had finished it so quickly. “It takes time, but it was easy,” was her reply. And as she turned to go she stopped and said “Oh and by the way it’s a Ferrari not a Porsche. (When you put your hope in the materialism of this world you’ll find out your porsche isn’t a Ferrari either.)
2. You’re probably wondering what in the world that story has to do with today’s sermon, wondering why I told that story, if you are then you have just found yourself exactly where the disciples are in today’s scripture.
B. Jesus’ Story - Jesus told them another parable…Then he left the crowd and went into the house (Where) his disciples came to him and said “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
1. The disciples had been following Jesus around all day, all that day.
a) You know “That same day”
(1) That same day that Jesus had addressed the controversy of plucking grain on the Sabbath
(2) That same day that Jesus caused a controversy by healing on the Sabbath
(3) That same day that Jesus that had to rebuked the Pharisees refusing to give them a sign
(4) That same day when Jesus mother and brothers showed up wanting to take him home because they were beginning to think he was crazy
(5) That same day when He was accused of being aligned with Satan
(6) That same day Jesus when he had left the house to sit by the lake and tell the story of the Parable of the Sower
(7) It was that same day that Jesus told this story The Parable of the Weeds
2. If you will take your handout with me MATT 13:24 (On the left side)
a) To me this is almost a laughable situation
(1) the disciples, the declared followers of this Jesus, elite, the inner circle, had followed Jesus around all day. They had listened to his stories.
(2) I mean I can almost see it - they had sat there among the masses listening to Jesus’ stories shaking their heads, nodding, giving understanding thoughtful gazes like they knew exactly what he is talking about and then, THEN when they get inside behind closed door
(3) They go uhmmm Jesus you know that Parable of the Weeds things - well uhmm ,we didn’t quite get it.
b) Jesus must have looked at them, shook his head and sighed VERSE 37
(1) Got it now - And their response was probably just like yours - “Oh, yeah okay…..no, nope! We still don’t get it.
(2) I imagine they probably sat there with Jesus for hours discussing and debating the different aspects of the story and its lessons but this morning I only have 15-20 minutes so I better just share with you what I think the story means
II. The Point of the Story
A. VS 24 - The man/the sower is Jesus and the good seed are the Christians who were sown in the good soil of last week.
1. Jesus has planted good seeds, he has broadcast an abundance of good seed out there with the expectation the seed would grow. Did you get that?
2. Jesus expects the good seed to grow.. He expects the seed of his word to grow, mature and bring forth good fruit in the life of His children. He expects the seed to grow in His church and bring forth the fruit of new converts. He expects the good seed to grow through new ideas, a new vision and a fresh testimony that will bring glory and honor to God.
3. Jesus didn’t plant the seed with the expectation that it would remain dormant, hibernated in the depths of the good soil.
4. He planted the seed with the expectation it would grow. Jesus planted the good seed for the purpose of it growing and bearing the fruits.
B. But wait someone or something else is planting a few seeds of his own VS 25-28
1. While we were sleeping when we weren’t looking, without us even noticing the enemy has sneaked in and planted his own brand of seeds.
a) You know it’s amazing by far the majority of Americans today believe in a supreme being, believe in God. But interestingly enough the opposite is true when it comes to Satan. Most people do not believe there is an evil one, do not believe in Satan.
b) How can this be, I mean just open up the Atlanta Journal on any given day, turn your TV on, look out in the streets. Evil exists and didn’t come from God.
c) That’s what Jesus is saying here. He’s saying evil in this world isn’t from God it is from the enemy - Satan and he is very much real and alive. I mean Satan has been sneaking in God’s garden planting deceit and evil since the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve what makes us think he has stopped doing it now.
d) Satan, according to Jesus’ word, is very real and at work planting the seeds of evil throughout the world and in our church. And just as the good seed grow and prosper so will the bad seed.
C. The bad seed will become the weeds of the world. Jesus was probably referring to darnel - a poisonous plant, that in its early stages closely resembles wheat, almost impossible to distinguish from wheat.
1. Jesus’ hearers would have understood this, understood how no one would have noticed the weeds until the plants came up and bore grain.
a) They would have understood that a heavy infestation of darnel would indicate someone, something with an evil intent had actually planted the weed in their garden.
b) It was a common ancient warfare practice - destroy a person or nations agricultural base and you could destroy their whole existence. It was a real act punishable by Roman law. It was a real life situation which gave Jesus’ hearers a picture of God’s kingdom in this world growing and thriving alongside evil.
c) Now I don’t know if darnel grows here in Georgia or not but I was down in Greg and Tresea’s pasture yesterday and I’ll tell you what I thought was just a bunch of weeds Greg says it was wheat. I couldn’t tell the weeds from the wheat.
d) Now I know on more than one occasion I have shown my ignorance about gardening but I would have thought if there were weeds in your garden you would have pulled them out.
e) But that’s not what Jesus is saying, he tells his servants don’t pull the weeds because you must might root up the wheat
2. Wheat/WEEDS its impossible to tell them apart
a) Weeds look like wheat and wheat looks like weeds
(1) Zig Ziglar once said that he invited a friend to go to church with him. The man answered, “Well, I’d like to go. But the church is so full of hypocrites,” Ziglar replied, “That’s okay. There’s always room for one more.”
(2) The church is full of hypocrites you’ve heard that one haven’t you - the wheat all looks like weeds
b) But there is a difference between a Christian struggling with sin and a hypocrite.(from a sermon by Melvin Newlands of Brownsville, TX)
(1) A Christian struggling with sin goes to God saying “God this is a weakness in my life and I really need the help of the Holy Spirit to deal with it. God welcomes this prayer and he promises to help
(2) But the hypocrite doesn’t struggle to overcome his sin. He or she just tries to hide it. He thinks “When I’m in church I’ll behave like a Christian. I’ll say the prayers. I’ll sing the songs. I’ll obey the rules, But when I am out in the world I become a different person who behaves exactly the way the world behaves. I got the t-shirt and well that’s as good as going there!
(3) A real difference, a major difference but it is a difference you and I can’t judge, can’t see for it is of the spirital attributes
(4) Yes, the church is full of hypocrites! But who are the hypocrites and who are the real Christians!?
(a) I heard the other day about a Christian professor at a eminary nonetheless, who bought a brand new Mercedes every year. “Now there’s a materialist if I’ve ever seen you one - you might say. A real weed in the Garden of our church and this world. But you don’t know the whole story. You see, once a year this professor travels from American to Germany to teach at a poor Christian school. While in Germany, he purchases a brand new Mercedes and uses it for his transportation while over there. Now since Mercedes are made in Germany, they are a lot cheaper to purchase there than in America. Upon his return to the states, he ships the car with him and sells it in the states for a profit, thereby giving him enough money to pay for his travel back to Germany the next year, so that he can minister there again, The actions of a weed or a shaft of wheat.
(5) Matthew 23:17-28 “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as rigtheous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."” Jesus condemns hypocrisy!
D. But it is his to condemn not ours! VS 30
1. By nature we, humans, are quick to come to conclusions about people and things ---- we are quick to judge.
a) A new person comes to church and we quickly decide whether we like them or dislike them whether they are like us or not
b) a person is quite and withdrawn and we quickly draw conclusions about why they are the way they are.
c) A stranger speaks of Christ and we quickly assign them to the category of Holy Roller
d) A person is huddled on the streets in rags, living in a box and we quickly judge them as lazy and no good. Condemning them for not getting a job at Mcdonalds.
e) But who are we to judge, do we know their heart, do we know what their life has been like, do we know their background, their emotions, what’s going on inside of them, do we know whether they have been saved by GRACE (like us) or not
f) Who are we to judge - if each of us in the church were to judge who was real hypocrites of this church and who were the real Christians, at the same time - if you kicked out those you thought were hypocrites, if I kicked out who was hypocrite, I wonder, how many would be left in the church in the end?!!!
g) Be careful who you call a weed and who you call wheat!! It is for God’s angels to separate the weed from the wheat not you
E. But less we get distracted into thinking everything is okay and acceptable in the church or that the Bible contradicts itself - there are clear times when we are called to judge!
1. We are called to recognize and judge false teachings.
a) Matthew 7:15 says “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheeps’ clothing but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”
(1) Do you hear the parallel between these words and the parable we have been studying this morning.
(2) Jesus says that false teachers may look like sheep, sound like sheet, act like sheep but they aren’t sheep and you and I, as the elect as the saved by the grace of God, will know it by their fruits.
b) Mark 13:22 For false christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect –if that were possible. So be on your guard…”
(1) Check their teaching by the scripture, check their teachings by the way they live their lives,
(2) Judge those who teach false teachings and do not follow them!
2. And secondly, we are called to judge CLEAR sinful actions. If someone in the church is doing a sinful thing and its common knowledge among the brethren, then the church needs to take action.
a) In I Corinthians 5 a man in the church is sleeping with his father’s wife - a pretty clear sin - and the church knew about it.
(1) Paul condemns them for not taking action, for not confronting the man individually in Christian love, for not going to him and helping him see the error of his ways. “You should have gone to him to seek a reconciliation that would cause him to repent of his sin and change his ways” And if the man refuses to repent of his ways - expel him from the church.
(2) You see the key here isn’t his sin - for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god. - the key is his refusal to repent and turn from his ways…
(3) Anyone who has sinned who isn’t a Christian can come to the church, come to this church seeking Christ - regardless of their sin. No matter what your past has been, if you are here genuinely seek a relationship with the Lord, you are welcome here, welcomed by this church and welcomed by God.
(a) But once you have become a Christian, once you have been forgiven and accepted the grace that has been extended to you, then standard changes. If you slip back into sin, you are expected, commanded, to repent and reconcile yourself to God. You are expected to take action and turn from that sin and when you do, then and only then, will his Grace will cover you!
(4) God has not equipped us with the vision and insight necessary to weed the whole garden. But he has given us His scripture by which to help each other grow and mature in his love!
III. Closing
A. In the movie Pearl Harbor, there is a scene in which Rafe (played by Ben Affeck) says to an English officer. “I’m not anxious to die sir, just anxious to matter!”
1. Are you anxious to matter…to matter for Christ? Or are you so busy looking around, complaining about the weeds in the church that no one can tell you are wheat!
B. The harvest will come!
1. Matt 13:41 The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do eveil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then,(Then) the righteous will shine like the sun!!!
2. May we shine like the son S-O-N, may we shine so bright that there is no difficulty in distinguishing us from the weeds of the evil one!
A. Amen and Amen.
